12-02-2004, 07:06 PM
Red Cross withdraws staff from Sri Lanka
(ABC Radio Austrlia)
Last Updated 03/12/2004, 00:40:05
The International Committee of the Red Cross has withdrawn its staff from parts of northeastern Sri Lanka, amid clashes between opponents and supporters
of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
As Gina Wilkinson reports from Colombo, there's growing concern that the country's fragile two-and-a-half-year old truce could collapse.
The Red Cross has withdrawn its staff from the main entry point into rebel held territory in northeast Sri Lanka amid ongoing violence in the region. The highway into the Tiger-held zone at Vavuniya is closed and the Red Cross says its staff won't return until the security situation improves. Police and troop numbers have been boosted, and shops and offices in Vavuniya are shut today as the rebels enforce a general strike. This comes after the government rejected the rebels demand that Colombo resume stalled negotiations on an autonomous state for minority Tamils, or risk a return to open war. Earlier two people died in clashes between supporters and opponents of the rebels in the northeast port of Trincomalee.
http://www.abc.net.au/ra/news/stories/s1256857.htm
(ABC Radio Austrlia)
Last Updated 03/12/2004, 00:40:05
The International Committee of the Red Cross has withdrawn its staff from parts of northeastern Sri Lanka, amid clashes between opponents and supporters
of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
As Gina Wilkinson reports from Colombo, there's growing concern that the country's fragile two-and-a-half-year old truce could collapse.
The Red Cross has withdrawn its staff from the main entry point into rebel held territory in northeast Sri Lanka amid ongoing violence in the region. The highway into the Tiger-held zone at Vavuniya is closed and the Red Cross says its staff won't return until the security situation improves. Police and troop numbers have been boosted, and shops and offices in Vavuniya are shut today as the rebels enforce a general strike. This comes after the government rejected the rebels demand that Colombo resume stalled negotiations on an autonomous state for minority Tamils, or risk a return to open war. Earlier two people died in clashes between supporters and opponents of the rebels in the northeast port of Trincomalee.
http://www.abc.net.au/ra/news/stories/s1256857.htm